- France: Fourth-century coin and mysterious inscriptions found under Notre Dame cathedral
Source: CBS News
“Wilting in the summer sun, a line of tourists waits to climb Notre Dame cathedral and meet its gargoyles. Four meters (13 feet) beneath them, a team of archaeologists is digging the other way – straight down and back in time, to Roman Paris 2,000 years ago. … a slice of Notre Dame’s forecourt has become an excavation site – an open pit ringed by barriers and crossed by a wooden walkway, a few steps from the line-up. … Among the hundreds of objects already found: a fourth-century coin stamped with the face of the Emperor Constantine, and shards of medieval pottery painted on the inside with marks no expert has yet deciphered — like a modern Da Vinci Code.” (06/02/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/notre-dame-cathedral-dig-of-the-century-treasures-found/
- US Job Openings Climbed to 7.6 Million in April Despite Economic Fallout From the Iran War
Source: US News & World Report
“U.S. job openings jumped in April as the labor market looked resilient despite economic uncertainty caused by the Iran war. U.S. employers posted 7.6 million job vacancies in April, the Labor Department reported Tuesday, up from 6.9 million in March and most since May 2024. Economists had forecast just 6.8 million openings. Layoffs fell but so did the number of Americans quitting their jobs – a sign of confidence in their prospects. The American job market has been recovering from a dismal 2025. Last year, companies, nonprofits and government agencies added fewer than 10,000 jobs a month, least outside a recession since 2002. This year has been better — job growth averaged 76,000 a month from January through April.” (06/02/26)
- Anthropic expands Mythos to 150 additional organizations in more than 15 countries
Source: CNBC
“Anthropic on Tuesday said an additional 150 partners in more than 15 countries will gain access to its powerful Mythos artificial intelligence model, which has proven adept at finding software vulnerabilities. The startup said the expansion of Project Glasswing includes industries that weren’t well represented in the initial launch, such as power, water, healthcare, communications and hardware. New partners will need to meet security requirements before gaining access to the model. … Anthropic’s Mythos expansion comes a day after the AI lab said it would start offering access to the European Union. On Monday, the company also confidentially filed its initial public offering prospectus with the Securities and Exchange Commission, beating rival OpenAI to the milestone and paving the way for a significant AI share sale.” (06/02/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/06/02/anthropic-mythos-ai-project-glasswing.html
- UK: London hit by severe travel disruption as underground drivers strike
Source: United Press International
“Millions of commuters, tourists and Londoners were facing travel disruption across the center of the British capital on Tuesday after 1,700 subway drivers went on strike in a dispute over working hours, forcing the transit authority to shutter four of the city’s 11 lines. … The situation was compounded by traffic jams and engineering problems on other — non-underground — parts of the city’s rail infrastructure …. Buses were impacted by much heavier traffic than normal. Transport for London said it expected to run a normal service across the network on Wednesday before another 24-hour strike, scheduled for Thursday.” (06/02/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2026/06/02/London-tube-strike/5701780399270/
- Belgian NGO urges Indian regime to arrest Israeli reservist over alleged war crimes
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
A Belgium-based NGO has called on Indian authorities to arrest an Israeli army reservist on holiday in northern India over his alleged role in Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. The Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF) filed a complaint Saturday with India’s Police Service, foreign affairs ministry and Bureau of Immigration of India to demand ‘the immediate arrest’ of Eitan Gilboa, an Israeli citizen currently holidaying in Himachal Pradesh …. ‘HRF has submitted a detailed investigative report proving that Gilboa, a reservist in the Israeli army, personally carried out and celebrated the systematic demolition of entire residential blocks in Gaza as acts of revenge, constituting war crimes under the Geneva Conventions Act, 1960,’ read the website.” (06/02/26)
- Blue Origin says rocket explosion spared fuel tanks and key launch pad parts
Source: SFGate
“Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin said Tuesday that last week’s rocket explosion spared fuel tanks and some other critical parts of the launch pad. Critical to NASA’s Artemis moon program, the company’s massive New Glenn rocket blew up during an engine-firing test at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. A lightning tower and the transporter-erector used to move and hoist the rocket were destroyed in the blast that sent shock waves across the state. CEO Dave Limp said the methane, hydrogen and oxygen tanks look to be in good shape. The water tank is also fine and the support tower that’s still standing can be repaired in place. A booster and other rocket parts housed nearby were not damaged. Overall, this was ‘a bit of good news,’ Limp said in an X update, adding: ‘We will fly again before the end of this year.'” (06/02/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/business/article/blue-origin-says-rocket-explosion-spared-fuel-22287658.php
- Trump names William Pulte as acting intelligence head
Source: The Hill
“President Trump named William Pulte, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as the acting head of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. In tapping Pulte, Trump turns to an ally who has been behind referring several of his foes for prosecution for alleged mortgage fraud. Pulte would replace Tulsi Gabbard, who resigned last month.” (06/02/26)
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5905332-pulte-federal-housing-chief
- We predict a black market arriving in 3 … 2…1…
Source: Adam Smith Institute
by Tim Worstall“Some say that economics is not a predictive science. We say ‘Pish’ to that idea, even ‘Pfft,’ and here is a prediction from economics: ‘The Conservatives are planning to introduce ‘ration cards’ to prevent thousands of criminals from spending their benefits on alcohol and gambling. The party wants to reduce Britain’s ballooning welfare bill by issuing criminal claimants with cards that severely limit what their money can be spent on.’ It will take some sub-triple digit number of hours for a black market to appear and given modern social media some sub-double digit number of weeks for it to be a commonplace across the country. There will be a trade of this restricted money for the unlimited ration coupons known as cash money. Further, we’d predict that the unlimited form will be worth more than the limited.” (06/02/26)
https://www.adamsmith.org/blog/we-predict-a-black-market-arriving-in-321
- Florida Property Tax Debate: The Right Answer is Always “Cut Government Spending”
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“Florida home values have increased by about 150% since 2008, and that there now about 2 million more homes in Florida than there were in 2008. In other words, a lot more homeowners are paying a lot more in property taxes than used to be the case. In the meantime, average wages have only increased by about 35%, while inflation has driven up the prices of things Floridians buy by 75%. Which means those increased tax bills have become less affordable, even as county government budgets have continued to grow at or faster than the inflation rate. The state government has run budget surpluses since 2010. It seems to me that SOME kind of correction is in order. Government keeps taking, and spending, more of our money, but our earnings aren’t keeping up with either that government growth or the cost of living.” (06/02/26)
- If Congress Wants a Raise, It Should Do Its Job
Source: The Daily Economy
by Romina Boccia“A Congress that routinely misses budget deadlines and adds to an unsustainable debt burden should not expect automatic raises with no accountability.” (06/02/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/if-congress-wants-a-raise-it-should-do-its-job/
- Interstate trade wars are a new front line in red vs. blue
Source: Washington Post
by Ramesh Ponnuru“Some conflicts among the states are inevitable and perhaps even healthy in our system. But rules must restrain those conflicts so that they do not undermine important national goods such as freedom of commerce among the states. … The Constitution therefore includes several restrictions on what states can do to one another and a commerce clause that hands regulatory power to Congress. For almost all of America’s history, the Supreme Court has inferred from that clause that state governments can’t regulate interstate economic activity … But the justices have, unfortunately, grown less and less willing to enforce those limits on the states.” (06/02/26)
- Statesmanship and the Classical Liberal Order
Source: Independent Institute
by Alexander William Salter“There is a tension at the heart of political economy. Is it the science of statesmanship, by which rulers manage taxation, commerce, public finance, and national prosperity? Or is it the science of self-government, meaning the study of how free people coordinate their affairs without constant management from above? These conceptions appear to conflict. Statesmanship implies centralized judgment. Self-government implies decentralized judgment. One vision emphasizes what governments do for societies, while the other emphasizes what societies can do for themselves.” (06/02/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/06/02/statesmanship-and-the-classical-liberal-order/
- The Iran war sparks partnership in Asia
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“More than any other region, Asia has felt the knock-on effects of the Iran war in energy supplies. Before the conflict began in February, some 80% of the oil shipped through the Strait of Hormuz went to Asian buyers. In recent weeks, as those supplies have dwindled, the region has endured blackouts, fuel rationing, and dozens of protests, from South Korea to the Philippines to India. The expectation was that each country would turn inward to protect petroleum supplies. Not so. With a population of more than half of humanity, Asia has shown a great deal of humanity in tackling the crisis together. ‘Now that they are hostage to events thousands of miles away,’ reported The Economist, ‘the squabbles that frequently break out between Asian neighbours no longer look quite such a threat.'” (06/01/26)
- Pay attention, Congress: A better model for remote work is here
Source: The Hill
by Gleb Tsipursky“On a weekday morning in downtown Washington, federal buildings and corporate offices still feel half-full, even as return-to-office emails pile up. At the same time, across the Atlantic, the House of Lords has treated remote work not as a culture-war skirmish but as a subject for a full inquiry on home-based working, backed by extensive evidence and formal hearings. Its Home-based Working Committee spent 10 months asking two simple questions with big consequences: First, is working from home working? And second, if so, how should governments and employers respond? The answer, detailed by researcher Jane Parry in a synthesis of five years of evidence on hybrid work, is clear enough for policymakers. Hybrid work shows only modest average effects on productivity, but it delivers meaningful gains in labor supply, employment rates, recruitment, retention and office efficiency when it is managed deliberately.” (06/02/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/congress-blog/labor/5904519-hybrid-work-economic-infrastructure/
- No one is inexorably illiberal
Source: Sex and the State
by Cathy Reisenwitz“What’s the point of trying to civilize the barbarians? Why demonstrate what liberal democracy can offer to a fundamentally illiberal civilization? Why bother trying to make inroads with a ‘basket of deplorables?’ Why bother trying to reason with people who ‘get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations?’ The irony is that the entire argument is fundamentally illiberal. The whole point of liberalism is that your ‘civilization’ does not define you. Nor does your race, sex, nationality, or religion. The whole point of liberalism is that the world is not divided into us versus them. Creating outgroups and outgroup hostility and moral panics is the authoritarian’s playbook. It’s immiserating.” (06/02/26)
https://cathyreisenwitz.substack.com/p/no-one-is-inexorably-illiberal
- Thousands Of New Yorkers Just Attended A Nazi Parade For Israel
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“Multiple far right Israeli ministers attended New York City’s Israel Day Parade on Sunday, including Israel’s genocidal finance minister Bezalel Smotrich. Smotrich is ideologically not significantly different from a Nazi. Which means New York City just hosted a Nazi parade that was attended by thousands of people. New York officials are acting shocked and appalled by Smotrich’s appearance at the march, but ‘I can’t believe there were Israeli officials at the Israel parade’ is kind of a hard sell. This is just what supporting Israel looks like: standing shoulder to shoulder with genocidal extremists and making common cause with them. That’s what Israel is.” (06/02/26)
- “Rationalist” Dating Strategy
Source: Bet On It
by Ilya Somin“I will start by noting I am not an academic expert on dating and relationships, nor am I any kind of professional dating guru. Far from it. But what I learned may be useful to some people, in part for those very reasons. If I could make this strategy work, the same may be true for others.” (06/02/26)
- The Last Thing We Need Is Government Interference in College Sports
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter“I grew up in Michigan, so even though I didn’t go to the University of Michigan (too rich for my blood), college football was all about the maize and blue. My dad loved Wolverines football and gave my brother-in-law all sorts of a hard time about his having gone to Michigan State (only way it could’ve been worse is if he’d gone to Ohio State). They’ve both passed away in the last couple of years, but the spirit of their love of their respective schools and their football teams lives on in our family. It’s getting, well, different now, however. When I was a kid, college sports were the audition for the pros and occasional scandals would see heralded universities across the country – including Michigan – penalized, both as programs and individual players for violating the NCAA rules.” [editor’s note: I wonder if Hunter’s opposition to government interference in sports extends to gender rules? – TLK] (06/02/26)
- Building Workforce Pell for the real economy requires leveraging all available talent
Source: Niskanen Center
by Claire Holba, Denise Bell, & Diya Abdo“The American labor market is sending clear signals: Demand for workers is strong, but the systems designed to connect people to opportunity are struggling to keep up. An aging population, rapid technological change, and persistent mismatches between worker skills and employer needs are converging to create structural gaps that could impede economic growth for decades.” (06/02/26)
- Themistocles and the Dangers of Democracy
Source: Law & Liberty
by James Diddams“Themistocles’s unlikely rise and fall in Athens should remind us of equality’s hostility to true greatness.” (06/02/26)
https://lawliberty.org/book-review/themistocles-and-the-dangers-of-democracy/
- AIPAC: Defending the Indefensible
Source: Common Dreams
by Masood Haque“As the American Israel Public Affairs Committee confronts a changing political landscape, one in which support for Israel has become a liability, powerful voices are coming to the defense of AIPAC and its hold on American democracy. Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is one such voice. He addressed the issue in an interview with Politico. … Shapiro lamented what he described as the ‘weaponization’ of criticism directed at AIPAC, saying it was ‘being used cynically by some to try and silence certain voices.’ Pressed on whether he meant critics were erasing the distinction between opposition to AIPAC and opposition to Jewish donors, he said yes. Shapiro is recasting the lobby’s scorched-earth tactics against politicians who do not toe the line on Israel as an attack on Jews and their right to political participation.” (06/02/26)
- Post-Conflagration LA
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“Though Angelinos started voting early in the mayoral race, today is L.A.’s election day. It’s a race watched with varying degrees of enthusiasm and alarm across the country. Polls show no candidate close to a majority, which means the top two will likely face-off in a November runoff. Spencer Pratt, a former reality TV star, has run a study-worthy campaign and could finish close to the top. He’s a former Palisades homeowner. He now lives in a trailer on his property, upon which he cannot yet re-build after the fires that swept through the area in January 2025. And he’s built his campaign around the government’s absolute failure on every level to assist — or just get out of the way — of a recovery.” (06/02/26)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2026/06/02/post-conflagration-l-a/
- How To Sell a War
Source: Reason
by Brandan P Buck“Presidents use a web of private influence to garner support for foreign invasions.” (06/02/26)
- Sorkin’s ‘1929’: Panic, Politics, and the Search for Villains
Source: The Daily Economy
by Paul McDonnold“Andrew Ross Sorkin delivers a tightly written, highly readable account of the 1929 crash, using strong storytelling and vivid detail to trace the panic and its aftermath.” (06/02/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/sorkins-1929-panic-politics-and-the-search-for-villains/
- Going to Bat for Burma
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Jake Scott“What connects Thailand’s surprisingly strong economic performance in the first quarter of 2026, and its simultaneous diplomatic push to reintegrate Myanmar into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)? On the surface, not much: one is an economic story centered on GDP figures, exports, and growing domestic demand; the other is a tense geopolitical story involving civil war, diplomacy, and regional security. Under the surface, however — and you don’t need to scratch much to get there — the two are closely connected. Thailand’s Myanmar policy is not only about ASEAN unity, but reflects a broader effort by Bangkok to stabilize the regional environment that remains more fragile than the headline figures suggest.” (06/02/26)
- Walgreens didn’t abandon Chicago’s South Side; we let crime drive them out
Source: Fox News
by Corey Brooks“Walgreens didn’t leave the South Side of Chicago because they hate Black people. They left because we made it impossible for them to stay. Just recently, another Walgreens shut down on Cottage Grove, and once again the public conversation turned in the wrong direction. People started blaming the company, blaming corporate greed, blaming everything except the conditions on the ground that made staying there untenable. But businesses do not keep stores open out of charity. They stay where people shop, where customers feel safe and where theft and disorder do not make daily operations a losing proposition. At that Cottage Grove Walgreens, the theft was off the charts. By local reports, the store lost more than a million dollars to theft in a single year.” (06/02/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/walgreens-didnt-abandon-chicagos-south-side-let-crime-drive
- The Origins of Cooperation: From Evolutionary Strategy to Decentralized Coordination at Scale
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Michael S Milano“If natural selection rewards traits that maximize individual fitness, why doesn’t behavior collapse into constant defection? In a world shaped by selfish replicators, what explains the persistence of cooperation — and how is it sustained across animal communities and human societies?” (06/02/26)
- Busy primary day sweeps the nation
Source: Semafor
by David Weigel“Tonight will be less about the countdown for polls to close and more about what individual races mean — for party factions, and for President Donald Trump, looking toward November.” (06/02/26)
https://www.semafor.com/article/06/02/2026/busy-primary-day-sweeps-the-nation
- Trump Watch, 06/02/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Amusement on Cuba from America’s Right Wing.” (06/02/26)
https://www.fff.org/freedom-in-motion/video/trump-watch-amusement-on-cuba-from-americas-right-wing/
- The Bryan Hyde Show, 06/02/26
Source: The Bryan Hyde Show
“Eric Peters from Eric Peters Autos is my guest. We tackle timely topics that will inform, inspire and enlighten those who put a higher value on truth than on political allegiance.” (06/02/26)
- Capital Record, episode 302
Source: National Review
“The Power of Permanence.” (06/02/26)
https://www.nationalreview.com/podcasts/capital-record/the-power-of-permanence/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 06/02/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Yet Another ‘Ceasefire’ For Lebanon…Will It Hold This Time?” (06/02/26)
- The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen, 06/02/26
Source: Jeffrey Rosen
“Justice Gorsuch on The Blessings of Liberty.” (06/02/26)
https://rosenjeffrey.substack.com/p/justice-gorsuch-on-the-blessings
- The Mark Edge Show, 06/02/26
Source: Free Talk Live
“Make Donors the Voters.” (06/02/26)
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 06/02/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump Rages Over Fresh Iran Humiliation as GOP Angst Grows: ‘Screwed.'” (06/02/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/211213/trump-rages-fresh-iran-humiliation-gop-angst-grows-screwed
- Cato Podcast, 06/02/26
Source: Cato Institute
“What ‘All Men Are Created Equal’ Actually Meant.” (06/02/26)
https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/what-all-men-are-created-equal-actually-meant
- Law & Liberty Podcast, 06/02/26
Source: Law & Liberty
“The Versatile John Witherspoon.” (06/02/26)
https://lawliberty.org/podcast/the-versatile-john-witherspoon/
- Rising, 06/02/26
Source: The Hill
“Robby Soave gives his radar on the United Kingdom denying entry into the country to leftist commentator Cenk Uygur and Hasan Piker.” (06/02/26)
- Show-Me Institute Podcast, 06/02/26
Source: Show-Me Institute
“Are Data Centers Good for Communities? with Judge Glock.” (06/02/26)
https://showmeinstitute.org/article/economy/are-data-centers-good-for-communities-with-judge-glock/